Engineering:SMART Tunnel

Short description: Hybrid highway/flood mitigation tunnel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Stormwater Management And Road Tunnel

Southbound upper deck of the SMART Tunnel
Overview
Location	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Status	Operational
Route	Template:MES-E E38
Start	Jalan Tun Razak on Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1
End	Sungai Besi Airport on Template:MES-E Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway
Operation
Work begun	2003
Constructed	Gamuda Berhad MMC Corporation Berhad
Opened	2007
Owner	Government of Malaysia Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (JPS)
Operator	Syarikat Mengurus Air Banjir dan Terowong Sdn Bhd (SMART)
Toll	Private cars and taxis
Technical
Length	4 km (2.5 mi)
No. of lanes	4, double-decked
Operating speed	60 km/h

The Stormwater Management And Road Tunnel (SMART Tunnel), E38, is a storm drainage and road structure in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and a major national project in the country. The 9.7 km (6.0 mi) tunnel is the longest stormwater drainage tunnel in Southeast Asia and second longest in Asia.

The main objective of this tunnel is to solve the problem of flash floods in Kuala Lumpur and to reduce traffic jams along Jalan Sungai Besi and Loke Yew flyover at Pudu during rush hour. There are two components of this tunnel, the stormwater tunnel and motorway tunnel. It is the longest multi-purpose tunnel in the world.

In 2011, the SMART tunnel received the UN Habitat Scroll of Honour Award for its innovative and unique management of storm water and peak hour traffic.

It begins at Kampung Berembang lake near Klang River at Ampang and ends at Taman Desa lake near Kerayong River at Salak South. The project is led by the government, including Malaysian Highway Authority (Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia, LLM) and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran, JPS) and also a company joint venture pact between Gamuda Berhad and MMC Corporation Berhad (MMC).

Route background

The Kilometre Zero of the tunnel is located at Salak Interchange.

History

In 2001 the Government sought proposals for a solution that would allow a typical flood of three to six hours' duration to occur without flooding the city centre. A tunnel that would allow floods to bypass the centre was one way of achieving this, providing it was coupled with temporary storage facilities to keep flows downstream of Kuala Lumpur within the capacity of the river channel. A group led by Gamuda engaged SSP, a large Malaysian consultant engineering firm, and Mott MacDonald UK to develop proposals for a tunnel with holding ponds at upstream and downstream ends of the tunnel.

Construction of the tunnel began on 25 November 2003. Two Herrenknecht Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) from Germany were used, including Tuah on north side and Gemilang on south side. Gusztáv Klados was the senior project manager of the project.

On 11 December 2003, the 13.2-m diameter Mixshield TBM, Tuah, completed a 737-m section after 24 weeks of excavation. By the end of January 2004, Tuah would start a second drive covering a distance of 4.5 km to Kampung Berembang lake. The motorway sections on the SMART system was officially opened at 3:00PM, 14 May 2007, after multiple delays.

Meanwhile, the stormwater sections on the SMART system began operations at the end of January 2007.

By 18 July 2010 the SMART system had prevented seven potentially disastrous flash floods in the city centre, having entered its first mode 3 operation only weeks after the opening of the motorway.

As of September 2020, the tunnel had activated its fourth mode for the seventh time. During the flash flood on 10 September 2020, the tunnel diverted three million cubic metres of water.

In December 2021, SMART entered Mode 4 for an eighth time, due to the massive flooding caused by heavy rainfall lasting from December 16 to 18. Things would have been much worse in Kuala Lumpur had it not been for the tunnel, which successfully diverted 5 million cubic metres of flood water during the 22 hours it was on full activation.

Functioning

The first mode, under normal conditions where there is no storm, no flood water will be diverted into the system. When the second mode is activated, flood water is diverted into the bypass tunnel underneath the motorway tunnel. The motorway section is still open to traffic at this stage. When the third mode is in operation, the motorway will be closed to all traffic. After making sure all vehicles have exited the motorway, automated water-tight gates will be opened to allow flood waters to pass through. After the flood has ended, the tunnel is verified and cleaned via pressure-washing, and the motorway will be reopened to traffic within 48 hours of closure.

Technical specifications

SMART tunnel entrance along Jalan Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Stormwater tunnel

• Construction cost: RM1,887 million (US$514.6 million)
• Stormwater tunnel length: 9.7 km (6.0 mi)
• Diameter: 13.2 m (43.3 ft) (outer diameter)
• Tunnelling method: tunnel boring machine (TBM)
• TBM type: slurry shield

Motorway tunnel

• Motorway tunnel length: 4 km (2.5 mi)
• Structure type: double deck
• Ingress and egress: 1.5 km (0.93 mi) at Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Imbi
• Length: 1.4 km (0.87 mi) at Jalan Tun Razak
• Links: 1.6 km (0.99 mi) at Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway Links: City Centre near Kg. Pandan Roundabout KL–Seremban Expressway near Sungai Besi Airport

Features

The north bound entrance of SMART Tunnel on the Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway.

• World's First Dual-Function Tunnel (Stormwater Management & Road)
• Longest tunnel in Malaysia
• 9.7 km (6.03 miles) stormwater by-pass tunnel
• 4 km (2.49 miles) double-deck motorway within stormwater tunnel
• The motorway tunnel is suitable for light vehicles only. Motorcycles and heavy vehicles are not allowed
• Ingress and egress connections to the motorway tunnel linking the southern gateway to the city centre
• Holding basin complete with diversion and tunnel intake structures
• Storage reservoir and a twin-box culvert to release flood discharge
• State-of-the-art operations control room equipped with the latest systems in operations management, surveillance and maintenance of the SMART system.
• Custom-made fire engine units consisting of two modified Toyota Hilux pickup trucks, parked at two different locations for quick access to the tunnel in case of fire on both carriageways.

Tolls

The SMART Tunnel utilizes an open toll system. Ever since its operation, all toll transactions at this toll plaza are carried out using Touch 'n Go cards, MyRFIDs or SmartTAGs. Cash payments are not accepted.

Toll rates

Class	Type of vehicles	Rate (in Malaysian ringgit (RM))	Notes
1	Private Cars (Vehicles with two axles and three or four wheels and not exceeding 2.4 metres in height)	3.00	N/A
2	Vans and other small goods vehicles (Vehicles with two axles and three or four wheels and not exceeding 2.4 metres in height)
4	Taxis (Vehicles with two axles and three or four wheels and not exceeding 2.4 metres in height)		Toll charges are paid by passengers using Touch 'n Go cards only.

FM radio channels available

Radio	Frequencies
Nasional FM	87.7 MHz
BFM 89.9	89.9 MHz
TraXX FM	100.1 MHz
Radio IKIM	91.5 MHz
Hitz	92.9 MHz
Bernama Radio	93.9 MHz
Radio Klasik	95.3 MHz
Fly FM	95.8 MHz
KL FM	97.2 MHz
Hot FM	97.6 MHz
988 FM	98.8 MHz
Buletin FM	101.3 MHz
Era	103.3 MHz
Suria	105.3 MHz

List of interchanges

The entire expressway had its speed limit of 60 km/h.

From/to E37 East–West Link Expressway

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
Template:MES-E 0			Template:MES-E East–West Link Expressway Southeast Cheras Northwest Petaling Jaya Shah Alam	Direction Y junctions
Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway ANIH Berhad border limit
SMART Tunnel (Template:TnG and Template:TAG ETC only) SMART border limit
		Template:Parking Layby signs SMART Tunnel operation office	Template:Parking signs Template:Toilet sign Template:TnG TAG SMART Tunnel operation office	South bound on Cheras, Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam stretches only
SMART toll plaza				Accepts electronic toll payment (Template:TnG and Template:TAG only)
Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Start/end of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
				From/to Motorway tunnel

From/to E37 Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
			South Template:MES-E Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway Template:MES-E Kompleks Sukan Negara Template:MES-E Klang Template:MES-E North–South Expressway Southern Route Template:MES-E Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Template:Airport sign Template:MES-E Seremban Template:MES-E Melaka Template:MES-E Johor Bahru
Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway ANIH Berhad border limit
SMART Tunnel (Template:TnG and Template:TAG ETC only) SMART border limit
Template:MES-E 0
SMART toll plaza				Accepts electronic toll payment (Template:TnG and Template:TAG only)
Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Start/end of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
				From/to Motorway tunnel

Motorway tunnel

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Start/end of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
	3801	Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Tunnel exit south bound	3801A Template:Parking Layby signs SMART Tunnel Operation Office Template:MES-E East–West Link Expressway Template:MES-E Cheras Template:MES-E Petaling Jaya Template:MES-E Shah Alam 3801B Template:MES-E Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway Template:MES-E Kompleks Sukan Negara Template:MES-E Klang Template:MES-E North–South Expressway Southern Route Template:MES-E Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Template:Airport sign Template:MES-E Seremban Template:MES-E Melaka Template:MES-E Johor Bahru	Tunnel Interchange
Motorway Tunnel Conversion from dry to wet
		Motorway Tunnel Wet sections
Motorway Tunnel Conversion from wet to dry
	3802	Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Tunnel exit north bound	3802A Sultan Ismail Link Tunnel Jalan Davis Kuala Lumpur Inner Ring Road Jalan Imbi Jalan Sultan Ismail Jalan Bukit Bintang 3802B Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 Jalan Tun Razak (Jalan Pekeliling) Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) Ampang	Tunnel Interchange Lower floor
Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Start/end of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
SMART Tunnel Start/end of expressway (Template:TnG and Template:TAG ETC only) SMART border limit
Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 DBKL border limit
			North Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 1 Jalan Tun Razak (Jalan Pekeliling) Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) Ampang

Sultan Ismail link tunnel

km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
	3802	Sultan Ismail link tunnel Dry sections Tunnel entry south bound	Motorway Tunnel Template:MES-E Cheras Template:MES-E Petaling Jaya Template:MES-E Kompleks Sukan Negara Template:MES-E Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Template:Airport sign Template:MES-E Seremban Template:MES-E Melaka Template:MES-E Johor Bahru	Tunnel Interchange Upper floor
Motorway Tunnel Dry sections Start/end of tunnel Maximum height 2 m Speed limit 60 km/h
SMART Tunnel Start/end of expressway (Template:TnG and Template:TAG ETC only) SMART border limit
Jalan Davis DBKL border limit
			NorthWest Sultan Ismail–Kampung Pandan Link (Jalan Davis) Kuala Lumpur Inner Ring Road Jalan Imbi Jalan Sultan Ismail Jalan Bukit Bintang

In popular culture

The tunnel was featured in the below series:

• Season 4, Episode 2, of Extreme Engineering, titled "MegaTunnel", on the Discovery Channel.
• An episode of Truly Malaysia on the National Geographic Channel and TV1.
• Season 2, Episode 3, of Man Made Marvels, titled "Kuala Lumpur: Flood Control", on the Science Channel.
• Season 4, Episode 2, of Megastructures on the National Geographic Channel and TV1.
• Season 1, Episode 2 of Build It Bigger on the Science Channel.

See also

• List of long tunnels by type

External links

• SMART Tunnel
• MMC Corporation Berhad
• Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia
• SMART Tunnel - Mott MacDonald Project Page